CITY’S LONG ROAD PAVED WITH GOLD
Non-stop trophy hunt means Pep’s men will barely rest until summer of 2023
FOR all his talent, Raheem Sterling’s most important future-asset could be body management.
Almost three years of nonstop football are on the horizon for the Manchester City striker – and many of his team-mates are in the same position.
But that could also mean a trophy-laden few years for those involved, a period that will require all the managerial nous Pep Guardiola possesses.
Rotation, which the City boss often does already, is one way to handle what is coming. It will just have to be better.
Despite being on the verge of taking his spending on defence alone to almost £400million, Guardiola will need more money to ensure City can do it.
Their season will go on until August 23 if they win the Champions League this year. The second leg of their last-16 tie with Real Madrid is on Friday as they bid to reach the knockout stages in Lisbon.
If they do go all the way then their season will have lasted longer than a year, having begun with the Community Shield on August 4, 2019.
Although the Premier League have promised a delayed start for English clubs who go the distance in Europe, it will not be long for them before the new campaign starts.
There are also Nations League games at the start of September and then next summer there are the rescheduled Euros.
That means even less time for a rest before the 2021-22 season which may have to finish earlier to allow for an earlier start to the 2022-23 season. Why? Because FIFA are sandwiching the 2022 World Cup in the middle of the domestic season to deal with the scorching heat in Qatar.
Of course, that also means the 2022-23 season will finish later. Throw in an African Nations Cup and a Copa America as well.
Exhausted yet? Think of the players.
But that will not stop City in their pursuit of glory.They have one of the deepest squads in Europe and are about to bring in centre-back Nathan Ake and attacker Ferran Torres at a combined cost of
more than £60m. Shrewd buys but more a sign of solid squad-building than superstar arrivals.
Guardiola will have forked out almost £400m on defenders when they secure Ake from Bournemouth. It probably will not be the last expenditure on the back line this summer.
But they do need it because some clearly are not good enough when injuries strike.
In 2018-19, Aymeric Laporte played 89 per cent of minutes in the League but this term the centre-back featured for just 32 per cent, having had two spells out with injury.
Sergio Aguero went from 72 per cent to 43 per cent. He is only getting older, too. Kevin
De Bruyne’s minutes did go up considerably this season owing to injuries last term but that was not enough to paper over the cracks despite his brilliance.
Sterling’s minutes dropped only slightly and his assist tally went down, from 12 to four, yet his goal haul rose from 17 to 20.
He featured at the 2014 World Cup, moved to City from Liverpool in 2015, then played at Euro 2016 and the World Cup in 2018 so it has already been a hectic six years for him.
It is not going to get any easier.
Guardiola will still need to find the best time to rest his top stars – and ensure he has the right players to replace them.